Sanitary gut-clamp.



E. S. FONTAINE.

SANITARY GUT CLAMP. v APPLICATION FILED MAYIS. 191s.

Patented Aug. 7, 1917.

EDWARDS. FONEEAINE, OF RENO, NEVADA.

SANITARY GUT-CLAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Au "7, 191W.

Application filed May 15, 1916. Serial No. 97,738.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD S. FONTAINE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Reno, in the county of VVashoe and State of Nevada, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sanitary Gut-Clamps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in clamps or clasps, and has for its object to provide a device of this kind which is especially adapted for closing or stopping openings of intestines of beef or other carcasses.

Heretofore the Government requirement that the intestines be closed to prevent leakage while the fat is being taken off and the organs and other parts are being removed has been complied with by tying with string which is a tedious process and not particularly sanitary. It is the aim of the present invention to provide a metal clamp or clasp as a substitute for the string, wherebythe desired object may be more expeditiously and conveniently accomplished and in a more sanitary manner. The clamp will have all the advantages of a string or other closing means in saving fat and tallow and at the same time will do away with the trouble of tying with string and will more certainly prevent contamination.

The invention will be first hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawings, which constitute part of this specification, and then more specifically defined in the claims at the end of the description.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein similar reference characters are used to designate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a clamp or clasp made substantially in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a left hand end view of the same, and

Fig. 4 is a right hand end view of the device.

As illustrated in the drawings, the clamp is preferably made of resilient wire which may vary in gage from No. 30 to No. 16.

The two jaws 1 and 2 are connected together by a spring coil 3 formed of the same wire from which the clamp is made. The jaw 1 is made of two strands of the wire arranged parallel to each other and preferably slightly spaced apart but less than the thickness of the wire. The jaws .2 consists of a single strand of wire arranged to engage the facing edge portions of the parallel strands of wire of the jaw 1, as best shown in Fig. 2, being forcibly pressed into contact therewith by the action of the spring coil 3.

The jaws are spaced some distance from the spring coil and the intervening stretches of the wire are covered, as at 4 and 5, with any suitable substance or fabric to form better gripping portions or handles. The covered handle portion 4 and the jaw 1 are formed from a continuous straight stretch of double wire, while the other covered handle portion 5 sets well off from the handle portion 3 and is connected to the jaw 2 by an angularly bent portion 6 of the single strand of wire of which the jaw 2 is formed. This angularly bent portion 6 is preferably arranged at right angles to the jaw portion 2, and the two strands of wire forming the jaw 1 are spread apart at the inner end of said jaw far enoughi to allow said portion 6 to pass freely between them, so as to bring the jaw 2 below the jaw 1 as illustrated. To increase the gripping force of the clamp, a helical spring 7 is wound about the portion 6 and bears upon the inner end portion of the jaw 1.

The jaw 1 extends slightly beyond the jaw 2 and the latter has an upwardly turned end portion or lip 8 extending through an eye 9 in the extremity of the jaw 1. This construction forms an inclosing loop for the parts gripped when the jaws are slightly separated.

The double wire forming the jaw 1 and handle portion l is bent around to form the spring coil 3, making four strands of wire in the coil, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The two strands of wire are continued along the handle portion 5, one strand terminating near the junction of the angularly bent portion 6 with said handle portion 5, while the other strand is bent down to form said portion 6 and the jaw 52.

In operation, the hand is placed around the two handle portions 4 and 5 and a squeezing pressure exerted thereon to separate the jaws while the parts to be closed or gripped are placed between them or removed. When the pressure is removed from the handle portions, the spring coil 3 and helical spring 7 will operate to close the jaws and hold them firmly in gripping position around such parts as may have been placed between them.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let-- ters Patent is:

1. A clamp comprising a pair of jaws, handle portions on the jaws, one handle portion being connected directly to one jaw, an angular-1y disposed connection between the other handle portion and jaw, and resilient means mounted on said angular connection for forcing the jaws together.

2. A clamp comprising a pair of jaws, handle portions on the jaws, one handle portion being connected directly to the first jaw, an angularly disposed connection between the other handle portion and second jaw, said angular connection extending through the first jaw, and a helical spring mounted around said angular connection and bearing against the first aw for forcing it against the second jaw.

3. A clamp comprisng a pair of jaws, handle portions on the jaws, one handle portion being connected directly to the first jaw, an eye formed in said first jaw, an angular-1y disposed connection between the other handle portion and second jaw, said angular connection extending through the first jaw, and a lip on the second jaw extending through said eye on the first jaw for the purpose specified.

4. A clamp comprising a pair of jaws, handle portions connected to the jaws at one end, resilient connection between the other ends of the handle portions for forcing the jaws together, and supplemental resilient means arranged between the ends of the handle portions which are connected to the dle portions, the second jaw consisting of a single strand of wire adapted to engage the facing edge portions of the first jaw, an angularly disposed connecting portion between the second jaw ancl handle portion, and resilient means carried by said angular connection for increasing the gripping force of the clamp,

6. A clamp having one jaw made of two strands of wire arranged side by side, a second jaw consisting of a single strand of wire adapted to engage the facing edge portions of the two strands of the first jaw, said strands of the first jaw being spread apart near each end of the said jaw to form passages therethrough, a lip on one end of the second jaw extending through one of said passages, and an angularly bent portion at the other end of the second jaw extending through the other passage, thereby forming an inclosing loop between the jaws when they are slightly separated.

7. A clip of the class described formed from a single length of resilient wire bent upon itself to produce arms, one of said arms having its outer portions bent U- shaped to form an inner arm and a relatively short outer arm, and the other of the first named arm being provided with eyes through which the arms of the U-shaped outer portion are respectively engaged.

EDWARD s. FONTAINE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the (iommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

